Media Release |
www.banffcentre.ca/bsaf |
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For Immediate Release
Vancouver Island’s Gwa’wina Dancers bring original work to The Banff Centre
Performing for the first time in Alberta, the Gwa’wina Dance Group brings an exciting collaboration in traditional and contemporary Aboriginal dance, music, singing, and drumming to The Banff Centre as part of the 2004 Banff Summer Arts Festival. They’ll perform three traditional dances, and a short segment from a work-in-progress called Kwakwaka’wakw Symphony of Dance. For the original contemporary dance work, the 15 members of Gwa’wina (who are from various Kwakwaka’wakw tribes on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island) will collaborate with four contemporary dancers, and contemporary choreographers Margo Kane and Geraldine Manossa on melding traditional and modern choreography around a new symphony based on a traditional Kwakwaka’wakw song called “Grease Trail.” The music was developed by William Wasden, Jr., music director of the Gwa’wina Dancers, and composer, arranger, pianist, and music director J. Douglas Dodd. Members of the group, including composers, choreographers, regalia designers, and set designers, have been working at The Banff Centre for about a month, creating this new work and participating in a new series of management and career development through the Centre’s Aboriginal Arts program. “We are very excited about the renewed approaches our program is taking this summer,” says Lou-Ann Neel, artistic director for Aboriginal Arts. “It allows each participating artist to explore and experiment with entirely new concepts in Aboriginal dance and music, and is also a great opportunity to share more about the diversity Aboriginal cultures with the public.” Gwa’wina Dance Group The Gwa’wina, or Raven Dancers, are from Alert Bay, a small island off the northeast tip of Vancouver Island. They belong to the Kwakwaka’wakw or Kwak’wala Speaking People, comprised of 15 tribes with traditional territories that cover vast areas from Smith Inlet to Cape Mudge. The group has been a professional dance performance company since 1999, and is made up of members who have performed in major cities across North America, Japan, Europe and New Zealand. —30— Complete schedule of Banff Summer Arts Festival events. Print-ready, downloadable images of the Gwa’wina Dance Group. Media Contact
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